A friend of mine sent me one of those emails that make the rounds – “bless the person reading this message and pass it along” “If you believe”…
This reminded me of an important point, often lost on those that pray. I’ve heard that some churches reserve this as secret for the monks and nuns.
There are 2 types of prayer – a prayer of asking and a prayer of allowing. The second is far more powerful.
The first type is known as Petitionary prayer. We are asking God for something. It is focusing on a consequence rather than source or God. We are speaking of a lack where there is none. Thus it is more like an affirmation than a spiritual practice.
As Rev. Michael Beckwith observed, if you keep asking, you don’t believe.
This is true everywhere. In India, people are often asking the gods for favours. A favorite is Ganesh, the elephant-headed god. He is said to be the remover of obstacles. Yet, where are the obstacles? They are in you alone. We see them outside because the world is as you are.
Often here I have spoken about allowing. How there is only Fullness and resistance to Fullness. Allowing is the art of moving past resistance.
There are many names for allowing. We may also say surrender, acceptance or trust. Being OK with what is. For a long time, I saw ‘surrender’ as a word implying blind faith. Then one day, I heard the word without the baggage and in that simple moment of correct seeing, I allowed. That changed everything. It only takes a moment. Trust is another word we often struggle with. This is why I often use Allow.
And that is the key to a much more powerful form of prayer. The prayer of receiving.
This is called Intercessionary. It is the prayer of faith. The prayer that Thy will be done. A prayer of trust and acceptance. It is the doorway to Fullness, to the wholeness we may call God.
“To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is not dependent upon things being a certain way, good, or bad. Watch any animal and let it teach you acceptance of what is. Observe its surrender to the Now. Let it teach you Being.”
— Eckhart Tolle
When we can fully allow, we come to see all expression as on offering of Self to Itself. All flows within Itself as a prayer to Itself. Our life becomes a continuous prayer.
Davidya
Last Updated on August 15, 2021 by Davidya
A short time after I wrote this, a friend remarked in an email about the ‘ecology’ or environment. He referred to a teacher saying that religion was about binding back to source. Reconnecting back. But all too often, we get caught up in the ecology, in whats around us. Angels and such are ecology, not source. One must find source first, then we find source in everything.
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I followed the link to your essay on ‘allowing’ but in recent years I’ve learned to use allowing in a different way. Someone told me the key to awakeing was not to forget the bliss when we leave meditation. To allow it to remain. When someone else told me that sounded too much like trying, I said, “Did I say try? No, allowing the bliss to remain is not like concentrating on it or trying to make it remain. It’s just ‘allowing,’ no effort at all.”
Just looped back here and discovered I’d never replied.
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Beautiful, Gina. Thanks for sharing.